 |
| Leaves changing on Windsor Street, Richmond |
Are any months in 2013 going to be quiet?
Bilpin, NSW
To kick off May, we went on a Day Road Trip. Last year, during National Alpaca Week I took Eloise and Eden to Madison’s Mountain Retreat in Kurrajong Heights. They loved Eloise’s interaction with the alpacas so much; they took many photos of her. They appeared in the local publication last year and this year was used in the official press release. We wanted to see our woolly friends at Madison’s Retreat again so off we went.
 |
| One of the publications Eloise's photo appeared in |
Sage, the white alpaca in the press release, had a baby: Joplin!
 |
| Eden patting Joplin |
After we “pat a paca”, we continued driving to a café mentioned on Sydney Weekender (we love this show. It features some popular and some off-the-beaten-track places worth visiting in NSW). We had wood-fired pizzas and the local brew, apple cider! This area, Bilpin, is known for their apple orchards.
 |
| Now my favourite cider! |
Note: I’ll have to explain this because it still confuses me and makes me angry... yes, 9 years on. Pie shops in Australia are not the same as pie shops in America. I still think the American-way and see “pie” and think: homemade apple pie, pumpkin pie… oh, French Silk. Mmmm. No, pies here are the savoury ones, as in steak and potatoes, chicken and mushroom. So when I see a pie shop that actually advertises home-made apple pie, we stop.
 |
| Mt Tomah Botanical Gardens |
 |
| Pie in the Sky roadhouse |
PuddlePics
A photo from swimming lessons.
After swimming, Mr.H lets Eloise and Eden play in the indoor play centre most weeks. One week, they had free tennis lessons.
Happy birthday, Mr.H!
A photo from swimming lessons.
 |
| ACE! |
 |
| Eden tries too! |
Happy birthday, Mr.H!
Mr.H is officially in his mid-30’s. We had the best of plans… we really did. They just weren’t very practical with lack of babysitting and well, not many friends willing to pay that much for a quirky dinner. Plus it meant not having the kids to celebrate with us so they were scrapped (postponed for a month? Auntie Fee?). We swapped a 5 course Games of Thrones themed degustation for ribs and burgers at Outback Steakhouse. Happy bellies!
 |
| Dessert Sampler Trio: Chocolate Thunder, Fresh Fruit Pavlova and homemade Sticky Date |
 |
| Eden's happy belly |
Input aside, here’s what I came up with: Chewbacca’s Wookie Cupcakes. They were so cute I could eat them up. Literally.
Mother's Day
After Eden reminded me that Mother's Day is really just another day as he threw a tantrum while I opened their presents, the weather was gorgeous so we went to the beach!
Centre Move
After Eden reminded me that Mother's Day is really just another day as he threw a tantrum while I opened their presents, the weather was gorgeous so we went to the beach!
 |
| Eden keeping it real. |
 |
| From Eden |
 |
| From Eloise |
 |
| She personalised it! |
 |
| Happy at the beach! |
 |
| Eden practicing his life rescue skills |
 |
| Sharing an ice cream |
Centre Move
Eloise and Eden finally moved to the new centre. I felt so sorry for the staff in the lead up. As the government-acquired centre was under 18 months old and would soon be reduced to rubble, the owners re-used what they could for the refurbishment of the new site. This meant that one day, most of the kitchen sinks and toilets disappeared or the astro-turf and gates were taken. While they tried to make it as disruptive as possible, it meant that the children could not play outside the last 2 weeks prior to the move. Not fair for the children and teachers! The upside of all of this is the outdoors area is much larger and nicer for the children. The downside, as reported by Eden’s carers, is that he takes every opportunity to launch himself off rocks and retaining walls.
 |
| The nursery on the last day |
Eden had a slightly better adjustment. While I didn’t mind the number of children in the pre-school room because Eloise needs to get used to that with school next year, I was very disappointed in the increase of numbers in the nursery. He was very overwhelmed the first few mornings. We adjusted our routine so that I took the bus into work (I had a week of early meetings) and Conor drove them in later. Eden was a bit happier with that and now he is fine with normal drop-off. He is sleeping well, transitioning to a cot bed (no sides). He is happy as long as the teachers from the original centre are there when he arrives and his girlfriend, Hayley too. Plus he only has a month to go until he moves up to the Toddler room!
2 Parties: 1 Day
While I was hosting a girls-only (plus teeny tiny Tom) party, MissE was at Cousin H’s 5th birthday shin-dig. She had a fun afternoon of party games and a piñata. (Mr E the grump was fighting a cold and well grumpy).
 |
| Eloise smashing it. Literally. |
 |
| Twins-eys! |
Mr H, MissE and Mr E all had haircuts this month (Mr H in the big chair). Mr E wasn't too happy this time because of the water sprayed at him but we got there in the end. And we had some fun with his cut:
VIVID
 |
| Motorbike and Cars on TV |
 |
| Eden's Mohawk |
It’s my favourite festival in Sydney and it has grown! Like last year, we spent the night in the city to enjoy it. Read about it here.
Eden
Eden is now 22 months. It’s not long until his big 2nd birthday… is there a party in the works? Yes. When I get around to it! Oh, have times changed since 6 months ago!
He continues to pick a thing to have a tantrum over daily. A few days in a row it was over changing out of his Batman pyjamas. He clung to them for dear-life like his blanket and screamed “My Batman” over and over again. I nearly took him to day-care in them! He also has a new cry and it’s awful. Think: baby pterodactyl.
Our biggest issue, other than being nearly Terrible 2, with Mr.E is his penchant for eating only 2 BIG meals a day. He will absolutely stuff himself at any 2 meals then refuse to eat 1. He is in the midst of a “Daddy phase”; he only wants Daddy but that’s okay with me, I can share him for a few months!
Milestones
He continues to be a little chatterbox… even talks in his sleep! We love hearing him put 2-3 word sentences together. But now, Eloise and Eden fight to talk over each other. Oh, our poor ears!
He can count to 4, but usually only if he is (a) about to jump off of furniture or (b) playing hide 'n seek with Eloise. He also now tells us when he is doing his, ahem, "business" so potty training might be around the corner.
He still sings Old Macdonald to himself and now Baa, Baa Black Sheep and We Are Young (by Fun). His favourite song is Gangnam Style. I tried to tell him that was “so 6 months ago” but he can’t help himself. At day-care, they purposely play it for him to dance.
Milestones
He can count to 4, but usually only if he is (a) about to jump off of furniture or (b) playing hide 'n seek with Eloise. He also now tells us when he is doing his, ahem, "business" so potty training might be around the corner.
He still sings Old Macdonald to himself and now Baa, Baa Black Sheep and We Are Young (by Fun).
Eloise
Eloise is living up to what she wants to do when she grows up. She loves to talk about how the body works, and often demonstrates when eating dinner. (There is also an Eloise explains the brain and heart series).
 |
| Eloise harvesting our veggie garden: zucchini and herbs |
Eloise continues to amaze us. I call her my little Rainman. To keep her occupied, her teachers (and us too) write sums for her. She happily sits down and does them. The funny thing is, while she fully understands the concept of adding, subtracting and even multiplying, there were a few numbers she was unsure of how to write.
We also attended a Parent Session for the local school this month. I can’t believe she is off to school next year! Time flies! She is very much looking forward to it (has been for some time now! However we feel strongly that she also needed the maturity to be in school… and I’m still not 100%!) but will miss her teacher, Miss Charli. I am excited for her to wear a uniform so I won’t have to keep buying her clothes while Conor is excited to only have 1 child in day-care.
We also attended a Parent Session for the local school this month. I can’t believe she is off to school next year! Time flies! She is very much looking forward to it (has been for some time now! However we feel strongly that she also needed the maturity to be in school… and I’m still not 100%!) but will miss her teacher, Miss Charli. I am excited for her to wear a uniform so I won’t have to keep buying her clothes while Conor is excited to only have 1 child in day-care.
As much as she tells us she hates swimming, she is doing well. She told me one day after swimming class, “No more chicken wings! I am never going to do them again!” She was very proud of herself for it all finally clicking, and big arms were out!
Recently, Eloise has asked for a Princess Room. As long as she acts like a Princess, we are happy to oblige. It’s still a work in progress so stay tuned for the big reveal.
MissE Says the Darnedest Things
Going to the Chapel…
MissE: Why can’t I marry you daddy?
Daddy: Because I am already married to mama.
MissE: Well then can I marry someone just like you?
Mr.H and I were laughing (I was crying with laughter) at an article about the creepiest things that kids say. (By the way, I have had a MissE says something creepy incident myself that I prefer not to speak of). This prompted Mr.H to say “Have you heard the garbage that comes out of MissE’s mouth?” And by garbage, she apparently said this “I am drawing a picture of mama because I miss her during the day. And when I miss her, I can look at this picture and it makes me so happy”.
I smell you from here!
MissE was giving her goodbye hugs after pre-school one day. She told us that she likes the way Miss Charli's Sean and Tarin (The Director) smell.
Me: Do you like the way daddy smell then?
MissE: No, he smells like armpit... (10 seconds) spray.
 |
| Bags packed to move to Pau-pau's |
Sigh. Unprompted, MissE has asked me at least twice this month why we can’t live in America because she misses Pau-pau and Gung-gung. One day, she packed her bags to move there. And just the other morning, she had a nightmare and woke up crying for Pau-Pau.
I dreaded telling Eloise that Calvin would be moving soon and we wouldn’t get to see them anymore. And when I finally did, she was so sad. It broke my heart. Then came many questions: why were they moving? Doesn’t Calvin like it in Australia? When will we get to play again?” I explained that sometimes our friends move away for many reasons and sometimes we see them again and sometimes we don’t (our neighbors). I told her that it was like when I moved away from my family and friends but see them when we visit America. After a side conversation on where she and Eden were when I lived in America, she felt slightly better when I told her it would be the same for her now. But then asked when we were going to America again. Hopefully 2014!
Then an hour later, she wanted to re-visit the subject. She had been thinking about it and just didn’t understand why they were moving. I said because Calvin’s mama and daddy miss their family. Her reply “Well, I miss America too. I like Australia but I love America and Pau-pau. So can we move too?” After listing the things she does love about Australia then sneakily changing the subject to what we should do this weekend, the small crisis had been diverted for the time-being. Calvin also gave Eloise a book called "Amy & Louis" about friends who move away from each other. She likes reading it although sometimes she gets very quiet (sad) after hearing it. (As do I!) I also ordered a book “Two Peas in a Pod” with a similar theme. This one is nice because it’s an Australian author so there are Australian references.
Me
This month I helped out a friend and said “farewell” to another (see post her farewell party here). A friend has a business where she provides bartenders and servers at events. She needed an extra set of hands. I have never worked in food service before (my first job was cushy as a swim instructor/ lifeguard) but I have to say, it was hard work but fun. My arm was sore the next day from carrying around platters of food. At least it was a good arm work-out! Boy was I exhausted! But I would do it again.
Baby & Kids Market
I had the opportunity for an Autumn Clean. Anyone who knows me knows how much I love to de-clutter! I had items from when Eloise has a newborn that I didn’t even open! So off I trucked with a car loaded (car seats out, seats laid down flat) to set-up a stall with Ms C. We split the stall to save on costs but we were overloaded! We both had a good sale day, I made over $265 and another $150 pre-sale. I’m just going to ignore the original costs of the items! It was for serious bargain hunters though. They didn’t care what the brands were… those items are much better off on eBay. But I did accept all reasonable offers. I rather items used again than collect dust in my house! There were a few items that I really could not part with… yet.
Good Crafternoon
It’s another baby-boom! I am covering a maternity leave, and Ms A has since had the baby! Here is something small I made for Baby Olivia.
 |
| Shh! Diaper babies |
Until next time…
Preview: We’re going on holidays!
Great photos and story telling as always. It helps that you have such photogenic kids who also help make your stories incredibly entertaining.
ReplyDelete